Manufacture Du Duc d'Angoulême, Group In Biscuit Early XIXth Century, Guérhard And Dihl

Superb group in biscuit porcelain with three figures representing a young boy drinking from a gourd protruding from the basket of a young woman dozing against a tree trunk, a child playing with apples in the back. Rotating group of a good quality of execution. The end of the hat filled with apples at the back of the group taken up in plaster, original cooking cracks. Marked hollow on the base: Mre de Mgr Le duc d'Angoulême in Paris. Period early 19th century around 1815. Delivery 30 euros in France, 80 euros in the EU and 150 euros rest of the world.

In the 1770s and 1780s, several porcelain factories settled in the north of Paris between the Saint Denis and du Temple suburbs, but also in Montmartre or very close to the rue de Provence. In order to protect themselves from the monopolistic claims of the Royal Manufacture of Sèvres, they came to seek the protection of powerful princes. This was the case of the factory that interests us now: that of the Duke of Angoulême. If, like me, you are not familiar with princely titles during the reign of Louis XVI, I can tell you that the Duke of Angoulême was the son of a brother of the king, the Count of Artois. The latter will go down in history as Charles X, the last Bourbon monarch. As such, the Duke of Angoulême was one of the pretenders to the throne of France after the revolution of 1830. "One of the most important factories in Paris" Here is the flattering description of this factory by Charles Ernest Guignet in his treatise on ancient ceramics. It was installed in the rue de Bondy, as it was then called, rue René Boulanger, with its serpentine shape just off the boulevard Saint Martin, a stone's throw from the place de la République. Remember that the Count of Artois was a great protector of French porcelain, having his wing a factory in the Faubourg Saint Denis, very close to the one that concerns us here. The entrepreneurs of the Duke of Angoulême factory: Guérhard and Dihl As you can imagine, it was not the prince who managed and operated the factory. He was just patronizing her and letting her use his initials. As reported by Guignet, the first managers were Guérhard and Dihl. Until the Revolution, they signed their products with an oval seal containing the duke's cipher, surmounted by the prince's crown. Then, after the Revolution, this patronage was no longer of any use. So they replaced the mark with “MM. of Guerhard and Dihl”. Of course, during the Restoration, even though they were still active, they took up the reference of the Duke of Angoulême: “MANUFAC DE MGR LE DUC D'ANGOULÊME A PARIS. »